2023 London East Asia Film Festival Invites 16 Korean Films, “Concrete Utopia” Selected As Closing Film
The 8th London East Asia Film Festival has invited various Korean films, including “The Boys”, “Concrete Utopia”, etc
This year, the London East Asia Film Festival (LEAFF) will be held at Odeon Luxe Cinema at Leicester Square for 12 days from October 18th to 29th (local time). 49 notable films from 8 Asian countries, including Korea, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and the Phillippines, have been invited to the festival to exchange Asian culture through movies.
◆ Opening film “The Boys” & Closing film “Concrete Utopia”
This year’s festival will begin with “The Boys” by director Jung Ji-young as the opening film. It depicts the re-investigation of three boys who were identified as the culprits of a robbery and murder case that occurred at a supermarket in a small province. Based on the true story that happened in 1999, “The Boys” was created with director Jung Ji-young’s impactful directing and deep look into the incident. The film will be screened in the UK first, ahead of its official premiere on November 1st.
The closing film will be “Concrete Utopia”, a film by director Uhm Tae-hwa. This movie highlights the selfishness of humans and the coexistence of people living in a ruined world after a huge disaster. It has been selected as the Korean film submission for the International Feature Film category at the Academy Awards next year. At LEAFF, director Uhm and actress Park Bo-young will share various stories about this movie with British audiences.
LEAFF said, “This year marks the 140th anniversary of the establishment of South Korea – United Kingdom diplomatic relations, and director Jung Ji-young has continuously directed films for 40 years during that time. It would be very meaningful to have his new work screened for the first time in London”, adding “‘Concrete Utopia is a masterpiece that covered topics to be discussed with the audience at the festival”.
◆ Director Jung Ji-young’s retrospective
An exhibition about Jung Ji-young’s retrospective is planned as a special section at the festival this year and it will introduce eight of his representative works to the UK movie fans. Organized in cooperation with the Korean Film Council, the exhibition will showcase “North Korean Partisan in South Korea” (1990), “White Badge” (1992), “Unbowed” (2012), and the digitally restored version of “Life and Death of the Hollywood Kid” (1994).
LEAFF Official Selection also invited director Kang Yong-kyu’s “Road to Boston”, Hong Sang-soo’s “In Our Day” and Lee Won-seok’s “Killing Romance”. In the Competition Section, Kim Chang-hoon’s “Hwaran”, starring Song Joong-ki and Hong Xa-bin, has been invited together with Kim Sung-hwan’s “Iron Mask”. Ha Myung-mi’s “Her Hobby” will be released as the Opening Film in the Story of Women section, which looks more deeply into the stories of women.
◆ A venue for planning and production exchanges of Asian films
Talks about Korean and Hong Kong films will be hosted by representative filmmakers in the two countries.
LEAFF also planned a section to share contemporary concerns, such as respect for the environment and diversity. The environmental documentary by director Hwang Yoon received an invitation to the Cherish the World category, while works from Japan, Hong Kong and Macau will be introduced through the LGBTQIA+ category.
Source: Daum
